David Kennedy is construction firm Carillion’s operations director for the £429m project which will replace the outdated old building.

It is a job that he wanted but one he knows will be no easy task to deliver.

The 55-year-old from Glasgow has moved his family to Liverpool which will be his home for the next three years as he oversees the build.

He said: “I really wanted to do it. There’s something about running a big project. On a big project, everyone is focused on the same outcome and by the end of it there’s a real team spirit. I’m a civil engineer by profession that’s what my degree’s in as Isambard Kingdom Brunel said ‘civil engineering is the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of mankind’ – basically doing something good – schools, hospitals, adding value. When you’re building shops and office blocks, it’s difficult to have the same feeling.”

Mr Kennedy’s job will be at the top of the workforce triangle, making the design drawings into something tangible by recruiting the best people and sourcing the best materials, all within budget and deadline. The architects’ team is up to 40 people strong as is the engineering team involved in the new creation. But at its peak, there could be as many as 900 workers on the job on one day.

Mr Kennedy, whose job has seen him travel the world and work on projects such as schools across the UK as part of the government’s building schools for the future programme and a new airfield in the Falklands, said: “My job is to manage the process. My job is about getting the right teams in place, also leading the client focused stuff, liaising with the trust and Liverpool City Council. I’m the face of Carillion on the project.

“And it’s not just about building the hospital, it’s about leaving a legacy, trying to give something back to the community through jobs and apprenticeships.”

One of the flaws with the current design of the Royal is that the theatre department is on the 11th floor while A&E is on the ground. It does not make sense practically as critically ill patients will come through as emergencies and need operating on straight away.

Revealing more of the how the new Royal will look, Mr Kennedy said there will be three separate and distinct entrances. At the moment ambulances, taxis, patients walking into the A&E all arrive at the front door. In future, blue light ambulances will have their own entrance on the Low Hill side of the new hospital with strictly no pedestrians. Cars will drive into the front of the building and into an underground car park and there will be a pedestrian entrance – all on three different levels.

Patients do not have to report to desks as they will be approached by a concierge who will direct them. Crucially theatre will be directly above A&E. Lifts will also be strictly separated – medical lifts, public lifts and lifts for cleaning staff.

The design of the new Royal is like a figure of eight, twisted on an angle to make best use of daylight and offer patients rooms with a view. And because its is being built on a hill, it allows for people, cars and ambulances to go in at different levels.

Plans for New Royal hospital. Interior view, artist impression. View of ward and waiting area

Mr Kennedy said: “Clinical lifts will be separate. If you’re on a trolley with your leg falling off, you won’t be with someone who is visiting their granny. The cleaning lifts are separate so dirty and clean don’t mix. It’s been designed with the patient experience in mind.”

Talking about his enthusiasm for the project, he added: “This is a fantastic opportunity to give something back to the community. I’m looking forward to the next three years.

“But it’s building a team and developing a vision. This will be the largest hospital to be built with all single rooms. We’ve got people looking at technology, because it changes all the time. We’ve got design specialists looking at trends and the future of modern health care. The trust itself is looking at robotic stuff ... I’m just the delivery guy.”

* The trust and Carillion are holding a turf cutting ceremony on the building site of the new Royal on Monday, March 31. The turf cutting will be carried out by Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson, alongside Chrissie Hyland, who has worked at the hospital for over 40 years and Vicky Horsley a former leukaemia patient at the Royal and Alder Hey.

Chrissie started her career in the NHS at the former Royal Liverpool Infirmary, before moving to the current Royal, when it opened in 1978 and will work in the new Royal when that opens in 2017. Vicky, who is now a nurse at Alder Hey , has helped raise around £20,000 for R Charity. One of R Charity’s aims is to raise money to provide a more teenage friendly environment for the teenage and young adult cancer unit in the new Royal.